Roger Saunders's Blog

Posted by Roger Saunders

The Historian, David Hackett Fischer gave us an account of another earlier American History scholar, Mellen Chamberlain, who was doing research about the origins of the American Revolution.

Fischer decided it was important enough to put on the first page of the introduction to his great book that defined and described American cultural values, Liberty and Freedom: A Visual History of America’s Founding Ideas, 2005, Oxford University Press.

In 1843, Chamberlain was interviewing Captain Levi Preston who was a 91year old New England Yankee who had actually fought on April 19, 1775, the day poetic legend tells us of that famous “Shot heard ‘round the world”. Here is the interview.

Chamberlain: Captain Preston, what made you go to Concord to fight?

Captain Preston: What did I go for?

Chamberlain: Were you oppressed by the Stamp Act?

Preston: I never saw any stamps and I always understood that none were ever sold!

Chamberlain: Well, what about the Tea Tax?

Captain Preston: Tea Tax? I never drank a drop of that stuff. The boys threw it all overboard!

Chamberlain: But I suppose you had been reading Harrington, Sydney and Locke about the eternal principles of Liberty?

Captain Preston: I never heard of these men. The only books we had were the Bible, the catechism, Watt’s Psalms, and hymns and the almanacs.

Chamberlain: Well, then, what was the matter?

Captain Preston: Young man, what we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we always had been free and we meant to be free always! They didn’t mean that we should.

Posted by Roger Saunders

After listening to Sarah Pulin's historic speech to the 2008 Republican Convention in Minneapolis, I reminisced about 24 years ago when Geraldine Ferraro did the same at the Dem's Convention in San Francisco.

I though it would be fun to go back and read Ferraro's and Palin's speeches and compare the two. Even as a big Ronald Reagan supporter in 1984, I couldn't help but be excited about the very first woman to be nominated for a major party in the US. No one who loves America and what it stands for and the values it has been built upon could help being excited by the fact that 64 years AFTER the 19th amendment was ratified a woman was finally going to be on the ticket. In fact as a Reagan guy, frankly, I remember being a little worried.

In 2008, the presidential election has already proved to be historic as a black man, a woman, and a geriatric all had a very good chance of becoming our nation’s next president. When Barak Obama secured the nomination and did not choose Hillary Clinton to run on his ticket many women (and men) sighed as they felt the dream of a woman executive slipping away.

Then, in a surprise, the republican candidate, John McCain chose the little known Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin to run with him! Hope soared gain and it was cemented for many as she gave a rousingly partisan speech that appealed to the base of the party but was electrifying in its effect on the nation!

So, with the help of the internet I was able to read the two speeches again and observed this striking comparison.

Both mentioned the novelty of being a woman candidate.

Ferraro, in her first sentenc said that,

"America is the land where dreams can come true for all of us."

Palin waited until about a third of the way through her speech to say,

"This is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity."

I believe that this one small difference reflects well on America. In the intervening 24 years between Ferraro and Palin, America’s expectations and value of equality has grown. They have matured to the point where an oblique, though excited reference to being a pioneering woman in politics can be replaced with a clearly defined (and just as excited) reference. The great thing is that it was not so inconceivably a reality any longer that it couldn’t wait until many more important topics were introduced!

Posted by Roger Saunders

Off She Goes Into the Wild Blue Yonder!

Today my daughter goes to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) to be sworn into the active-duty Air Force and then heads for Basic Training at Lackland AFB.

No one is prouder when their youngster joins America's Armed Forces than those of us who love America's history. The only drawback is that when we truly understand our history we also know, better than most, the sacrifices our great Service Men and Women have made. It is sobering thing to think about all of those who have given their lives or sacrificed their bodies with everything but death to preserve our freedom. With a grave sense of wonder we see our own children follow in that great service which the father of our country called "more than could be reasonably expected" where they will be "worn out with fatigues and hardship" and "will render that service to the cause of liberty and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstance".

I suppose I am partially to blame. I am the one who made her listen to stories about Deborah Sampson, Sybil Ludington, Mary Hayes and her own 6G-Grandmother Phoebe Ward, The Hero of Fort Freeland. She also heard about two 3G-Grandfather's fighting in separate Iowa Regiments in the Civil War. Maybe the “Coup de Gras” was when we found those old papers of her G-Grandfathers. He served as a B29 Crew Chief during World War II. In these papers we found letters signed by Five-Star General Henry "Hap" Arnold, thanking him for his service to the Army Air Corp in bringing down the power of the German Luftwaffe.

I know she will make us all as proud as we are of everyone who has given a portion of their lives to preserve America's liberty ... but ... this is my little girl!

Posted by Roger Saunders

The Real Reason We Study History

Isn’t the reason we study history to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes time after time? What’s that you say? You’re not sure this process really works?

Well, I have to agree! My own study of history seems to be more about finding places where other eras have repeated their mistakes than looking at my own era and making adjustments. One of the biggest problems we face today is the fear of what is going to happen in the Middle East. We see the instability of governments who are being heavily influenced by Muslim extremists and we have even been attacked on our own shores by these religious folks who claim a form of religion but don’t seem to follow its example too well.

Just over 500 years ago, we saw similar issues. Through the Crusades, Western Europe controlled not only the Holy Land but also the spice trade routes. Imperceptibly, the Ottoman Empire began to make inroads into the control of this resource. The economic power that accompanied it led to the downfall of Euro-Asia to Ottoman control. This threw the monetary markets on the Italian peninsula into depression and there seemed no end to Ottoman incursion … until alternate sea routes began to open to the west via Spanish and English exploration and to the east via Portuguese exploration. Slowly but surely, by the mid 16th century the Ottoman threat receded.

We can see this today. Swap spices for oil and the Ottoman Empire for the extreme Muslims that seem to be gaining in strength. The answer is similar. While there are no new worlds to discover, we can search for alternatives to our oil dependency. If we can be creative enough to do this, we can once again throw off the threat from the Middle East by decreasing the wealth that finances their adventures. Is this our chance to learn from history?

Posted by Roger Saunders

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendment Passes Senate

This act allows the Federal Government to place wire taps to catch suspected terrorists without a warrant. Does this compare to the Writs of Assistance in 1761?

After September 11 there was great public support for these methods. We had to catch those murderous secret cells before they could repeat the tragedy. Civil rights groups raised Ben Franklin's warning. "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

James Otis argued against the Writs of Assistance in 1761. "These rights [British Liberties] were inherent and inalienable. They never could be surrendered or alienated but by idiots or madmen and all the acts of idiots and lunatics were void and not obligatory, by all the laws of God and man.”

Then, they used the term "British Liberty" as we use "Civil Liberty" today. Would James Otis call the Senate idiots, madmen or lunatics? (I'm referring only to this issue, not asking what would be a rather rhetorical question otherwise.) The "Writs" were a warrant that gave an Inspector carte blanche to search anywhere they arbitrarily chose. They also allowed the inspector to "deputize" anyone he chose to make the search.

This FISA Act sets up a secret court that approves Federal Government requests to wiretap anyone they feel is a suspected terrorist. Are the FISA ACT and the Writs of Assistance the same? In my opinion, No. The FISA court is made up of 7 District Court Judges appointed by the Chief Justice. It does not allow the wiretapping of American Citizens. However, there is the issue of probable cause, which only applies to whether the subject is the agent of a foreign power; with no criminal prerequisite.

This is why any Act like this must be followed closely by voters so it does not exceed its boundaries! If they do we can, and should, vote a new Senate in to eradicate the privilege.